


Just a Dream

by prissygirl



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, One Shot, Post-Curse Storybrooke, Rumbelle - Freeform, Smut, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-03-31 23:19:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3996982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prissygirl/pseuds/prissygirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: After Belle banished Rumple across the town line, she begins having vivid dreams of him at night. Belle decides there’s no harm in giving into her fantasies. After all, they’re just dreams, right?</p><p>Prompted and beta'd by B_does_the_write_thing</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Dream

It was Friday night and Belle had never been happier to see the end of the week. She all but collapsed onto her bed, her whole body exhausted.

Belle peeled off her heels and let them drop unceremoniously to the floor as she curled up in her bed, too tired to even change out of her day clothes and into some pajamas.

She was supposed to meet Will for drinks at Granny’s, but she had called earlier that evening and cancelled, the stress of the week having finally caught up with her.

He understood, of course. He knew how hard she was working, trying to keep both the library and the pawn shop open. Things had gotten a little easier since Will had started helping at the shop, but Belle was still wary of leaving him there by himself. There were still too many unknown objects lurking on the shelves, just waiting for an unsuspecting victim to come along.

Belle shook her head. She was getting paranoid in her sleep deprived state.  

After all, she reminded herself, she had found something potentially useful that very morning while cleaning out some drawers in the back.

She toyed with the opal pendant around her neck, admiring how the light played across the gem. She had read that the stone was rumored to help channel dreams. Belle had only found a passing reference to it in her research, but she supposed it functioned similar to a dreamcatcher, keeping bad dreams from reaching those who wore it. She had put in on earlier that day, figuring she could use all the help she could get.

Her nightmares didn’t come every night, at least not anymore. But when they did, they were always the same. Belle would find herself at the town line, clutching the dagger as she stared down a dark, empty road. The wind would howl and she would know that Rumple was out there – cold, alone, and afraid – and that it was her doing. She would fall to the ground, realizing that she would never see him again, never get a chance to ask why their love wasn’t enough for him. Then she would awake from the dream, tears running down her face as she wondered if she had made a mistake in sending him away so quickly.

Trying to brush the memory of the nightmares away, Belle turned over and glanced at the clock by her bedside table. It was only 9 pm and she groaned at the idea of going to bed so early.

But as she was already in bed, her eyelids growing heavier with every second that passed, Belle supposed there was really no reason to fight it.

As her eyelids drifted shut, her thoughts briefly turned to Rumple, as they did every night before she fell asleep. She wondered how he was doing, where he was, and most importantly – though she would deny in the morning that it mattered to her – if he missed her.

The next thing Belle knew, she was in a wide-open space, thick fog rolling by her as she looked around in confusion.

It was a non-place and Belle realized she was asleep. She relaxed, only to jump when she heard a voice. _His_ voice.

“Belle?”

She turned around and saw him there, dressed as he had been the first time she saw him in this new land – from before he had betrayed her, before he had ruined their happy ending forever.

Rumple stared at her, his eyes wide, as if he was surprised to find her in her own dream. He looked around at their surroundings, his face crinkling in confusion. “I don’t understand. Where are we?”

Belle moved towards him slowly, gesturing about her at the dreamscape. “I’m sure there’s a very good explanation for it all, and the fog will end up being symbolic of your betrayal of our love or something, but the short answer is we’re in my dream.” She stopped several steps in front of him.  “Apparently my subconscious decided I needed to see you again.” Belle cocked her head and looked at him, a sad smile on her face. “I miss you.”

The man before her stared at her in disbelief. “You do?”

She nodded. “I miss the man I thought you were.”

“I am that man, Belle.”

“You are _here_.”  

“Belle, I – “

She shook her head. “Please, no more.” She brought a hand up to touch his lips. His eyes closed and he leaned into her touch. “No more talking.”

With the clarity that only comes while dreaming, Belle knew why she had dreamt Rumple up. She may have to pretend during the day that she didn’t miss him, but her dreams were a different matter entirely.

Without any hesitation, Belle closed the distance between them, her lips brushing against his gently. It felt as electric as it had in real life, and she coaxed his mouth open, her tongue tasting him for the first time in so very long.

He pulled away a moment later and she whimpered at the loss of contact.

“I don’t deserve this,” he said. “I don’t deserve you.”

Belle grabbed a hold of his tie and brought him back to her. “It doesn’t matter. None of that matters here.”

She kissed him again and this time he didn’t pull away.

Time seemed to slow as they held each other close. She wasn’t sure when the bed had appeared, but now they were sprawled out on it, exchanging slow, reverent kisses. Occasionally, they would need to break for air, and they would lie in each other’s arms, just enjoying the feeling of being close. Sometimes Belle would find it hard to look at him, instead choosing to focus on the buttons of his suit jacket, which had been undone long ago. His gaze, however, never left her face.

Her dream Rumple looked at her as if she might disappear at any moment. If she was honest with herself, it’s the way the real Rumple had often looked at her too – but she didn’t want to think about that now.

Several times he tried to apologize or explain the reasoning behind what he had done. Belle shushed him each time. She didn’t want to be reminded of what she had lost when she could pretend it was right before her. The more she gave into the fantasy, the more real it seemed. Belle had no doubt that she would feel his loss even more sharply in the morning, but she pushed the thought away. She wanted to enjoy this short time together, so she focused on the sound of his breathing and snuggled into his chest, marveling at how real his heartbeat sounded.

He had been toying with the hair at the nape of her neck when his fingers brushed against the chain of her necklace.

“What’s this?” he asked curiously.

Belle shifted in his arms and held the opal pendant up for him to see. “I found it at the shop. It was supposed to ward off bad dreams.”

His eyes grew a bit wider. “I see.”

She let the pendant fall back to rest on her chest and she snuggled back into him. “I think it’s the reason I’m having such a nice dream.”

He didn’t say anything else, but pulled her closer in his arms. “Yes, I think it is.”

They continued to lie there, content to be wrapped up in one another. Belle felt no need to break the peaceful silence, and she was relieved that Rumple didn’t seem to either.

It seemed as if no time had passed at all when Belle felt it – the familiar tug signaling that she was waking up.

She brought a hand up to caress his face. “Goodbye, Rumple.”

His eyes grew panicked and he reached for her, his mouth forming words that Belle could no longer hear. It didn’t really matter anyway, she told herself, feeling the dream begin to dissipate around her. She knew anything he said would have been her own mind’s creation.

Belle woke up in her bed a few moments later, stretching as she willed herself to get out of bed and begin the day. One look at the clock told her it was still early. By all rights she could lay in bed a little longer, but for the first time that week, Belle felt refreshed.

As she got out of bed and slipped into the shower, she realized she hadn’t felt this relaxed in weeks. It was then that Belle remembered the opal necklace and she quickly took it off before turning the water on. She found herself humming in the shower and wondered if she had the pendant to thank for her good mood.

An image flashed through the back of her mind, but it was too quick for her to grasp. Belle wondered at it briefly before shrugging. If it was important, she figured she’d remember it later.

As she made a mental checklist for the day, she supposed she should call Will and see if he wanted to grab lunch or dinner that day. She felt bad about cancelling their date the night before, especially since their relationship was still so new.

Belle wasn’t even sure if they were in a relationship, but she found that she wasn’t in a rush to define it yet. It was so very different from how things had been with Rumple – the two of them had never shied away from voicing their devotion to one another.

Especially when they were _demonstrating_ it with each other, Belle thought with a blush.

She and Will, however, were taking things slow, their physical relationship consisting of holding hands, exchanging sweet kisses, and the occasional cuddle while watching a movie. Belle tried to tell herself it was because she was scared of being vulnerable again with someone or rushing into being intimate too soon.

But she knew that wasn’t the truth. Will was sweet and caring and she enjoyed being around him very much. His jokes and easy company were one of the few things that distracted her these days. But she didn’t feel the butterflies, the pull in her gut when he smiled at her. She had never once found her thoughts wandering to inappropriate places when she was around him, despite the fact that she knew he was a physically attractive man.

As she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, she found herself thinking of Rumple yet again. No matter how hard she tried to focus on Will, her traitorous mind always seemed to drift back to thoughts of her former love and their time together.

Though something or other had always seemed to keep them apart, Rumple had certainly been more than thorough during their time together, dedicating himself to the task of pleasing her. He had very quickly found every single erogenous spot on her body, and had used that information on numerous occasions to reduce her to a quivering mass of jelly.

His smile was always wicked after making her come, Belle remembered. She shivered at the thought and quickly reached over to turn the shower faucet to cold.

\--------------------------------------------

The day passed by quickly and before she knew it, the time for sleep had come again.

Belle pulled the covers over herself happily, sinking into the softness of her bed and hoping that whatever had caused her to get such a good night’s rest the night before would happen again.

The necklace hung about her neck once more and she rubbed the stone fondly.

“I hope I get lucky with you again tonight,” she said sleepily. Then she curled up on her side, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

It was only when she reappeared in the foggy landscape, wisps of white mist swirling past her feet, that she remembered her dream from the night before.

There was a noise behind her. Belle turned around, but this time was unsurprised to see Rumple there. Her heartbeat began to race at the sight of him and she quickly began to walk in his direction.

Perhaps it was wrong of her, but she couldn’t help but grow excited at the thought of where this dream might lead. Maybe this was just her subconscious way of getting him out of her system, she thought. If the way to get over Rumpelstiltskin involved mind-blowing dream sex, than who she was she to complain?

She was almost close enough to reach him when he stepped back, putting a hand up to stop her.

“We need to talk.”

Her brows furrowed. “I don’t want to talk,” she said. “This isn’t about that. I didn’t dream you up to make excuses for your behavior.”

His eyes pleaded with her. Even in her dream, she found it hard to resist them. He reached out and rested his hands on her upper arms, squeezing them gently.

“I’m real, Belle. This is real.”

Belle felt herself grow angry. “No, it’s not.” She wrenched herself away from his grasp. “I spend every waking moment thinking of how you chose your power over me. But not here.”

She took another step back as he tried to reach for her again. Belle shook her head, surprising herself at how angry her own dream could make her. All she had to do was assert her will over the dream and then everything would be as it should be, she reminded herself.

 “These are my dreams, Rumple, and in them, you choose me. That’s all I ever wanted.”

She felt angry tears course down her cheeks. She let them.

“I do choose you.” He was crying too now. “You’re not my weakness – you’ve only ever been my strength.”

Belle choked back a sob of relief.

“That’s more like it,” she said, before launching herself at him.

He caught her easily and she hung onto him for dear life. Her kisses were demanding, but he met her kiss for kiss, and touch for touch, his moans the only sounds he seemed capable of making now.

Belle had practically crawled her way up his body, her legs wrapped around his middle while his arms supported her weight.

She imagined a couch behind them and a second later, Rumple lost his balance as he backed into the front of it. They fell back, collapsing onto the sofa.

She hardly let him catch his breath before she was upon him again, her teeth leaving little bites along his neck followed by her tongue, which soothed the red marks. She liked the perversity of marking him as her own, even in the dream. The little gasps he made only fueled her on and she found herself biting him harder along his pulse point as she ground herself against him.

A pure shot of pleasure raced through her body when Rumple began sucking and nibbling on her wrist. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Her wrist had always been one of the most sensitive spots on her body and Rumple had always ruthlessly exploited it to their mutual delight.

With her free hand, Belle turned his head towards hers roughly, leaving an almost bruising kiss on his lips. He growled in response. In the blink of an eye, he had her pinned to the couch with his body, his erection rubbing against her thigh insistently.

She shifted her lower body and grinded against him, smiling when a curse left his mouth at the sensation.

But it wasn’t enough – it had never been enough. It was the reason she had lost her virginity that first night back with him in Storybrooke. He had wanted them to take their time, go slowly, but she had brought him to his knees in just a few inexperienced, but demanding touches. He had been the one thing she understood in a strange land and feeling him moving within her had kept her tethered to reality when everything else was breaking around her.

It was the same now in the dream. Being with him made everything else fall away, the pain and loss receding to the corner of her mind. She felt free if only for a little while.

“Rumple, I need this. I need you.”

He looked down at her through heavy-lidded eyes, the brown of his irises practically black with desire. His hair was a mess, falling across his forehead in disarray from the way her hands had roved through it earlier, feeling the softness of it as he grew hard against her.

“Then take whatever you need, sweetheart.”

Their lips crashed together once more and as his tongue plunged into her mouth, she tried to concentrate long enough to undo his pants, but found herself struggling with the zipper before it finally gave way.

It really shouldn’t be this difficult to get a man naked in a dream, she thought to herself.

His lips returned to her neck and coherent thought left her for a moment.

When it returned, she was breathing heavily, trying to reclaim the air that seemed to have abandoned her lungs. With a final pull on his boxers, his cock sprang free. Belle closed her hand around it, stroking it up and down, enjoying the hardness beneath her palm.

“Sweetheart – “ he gasped out, his face contorting into a look she knew well.

Belle smiled. She had always loved the control she had over such a powerful man, knowing that she could affect him so easily. Any other time, his power had meant nothing to her – so many times, it had been a hindrance, a barrier between them – but in these rare moments of private pleasure, she relished the way she could make him lose control.

She let go of him and before she could think of how to tease him next, he had pushed up the skirt of her dress, his fingers curling around the waistband of her panties. He all but ripped them off of her, his fingers quickly returning to caress her slick folds. He drew his finger back and forth, each time lingering on her clit for only a few moments before moving lower, leaving her to pant and whimper.

“You’re so wet,” he said, the marvel in his voice somehow managing to pierce through the haze of lust that was currently clouding around Belle’s mind.

“Just thinking of you makes me wet,” she confessed. It was her dream, after all, she told herself. What did it matter if she told him the truth? “I touch myself at night when I think of you.” Her eyes locked with his, even as he continued to press his fingers against her. “I’m always drenched.”

The noise that left his mouth was practically a howl and he drove two fingers into her, making her cry aloud in pleasure. He rocked his fingers back and forth and she moved her hips in time with it. Belle could feel the pressure building within her and she knew she was close to coming.

When his thumb flicked over her clit, she came undone, whimpering as the orgasm raced through her body. She hadn’t realized she had arched her back off the couch, until her body came crashing back down upon the cushions. Her eyes, which had slammed shut as she rode the wave of her orgasm, fluttered back open.

Rumple stared at her, his eyes still dark with desire, but with a hint of a smirk playing about the edges of his lips.

Though he had insisted time after time that he was too old for her, he had never failed to satisfy her sexually. He seemed to take extraordinary pride in the way he could wind her up, working her body as expertly as if she had been one of his spinning wheels.

“Rumple,” she breathed.

He kissed her then, stealing her breath away with the intensity of it. She welcomed it, rubbing herself against him, letting him know she was ready. He broke the kiss and settled over her. She spread her legs wide for him, wanting to feel all of him. He lined himself up and in one fluid motion, he was moving inside her. Belle arched into him, grinding her clit against him, and he moaned.

His thrusts became faster and Belle shifted, trying to get him deeper inside her. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer still, and she felt him sink into her further.

“My Belle, my beautiful Belle,” he whispered, his words becoming nonsensical as his thrusts grew faster and more erratic.

Belle felt herself drawing closer to the edge once more, and she dug her nails into his back, making him grunt. He slammed into her hard, causing her to climax once more, her scream turning hoarse as she came. He thrust into her once, twice more, before he twitched and yelled, spilling himself inside her.  

Eventually he pulled out of her and they lay there quietly for a few moments, staring at one another. Belle smoothed the hair back from his forehead as he gazed at her in wonder.

As their heartbeats slowed and their breathing returned to normal, it was Belle that spoke first.

“You’ll have to go away now,” she said, her voice sad but sure. “I’ll be waking up soon.”

“I can come back, Belle. I can find a way if you want me to.”

She shook her head, trying to blink away the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. “It’s no use, Rumple. This isn’t real.” She looked back into his face and saw the adoration of only a short time before quickly being replaced by desperation.

“It can be real. I’ll do whatever I need to, if only I know you want this to work.”

The edges of her vision were beginning to blur and Belle could feel herself being pulled into consciousness, the dream fading around her.

“The real you doesn’t want me,” she said, sobs shaking her shoulders. “I’m not enough for him.”

The last thing she saw before she awoke was the dream Rumple shaking his head emphatically, tears streaming down his face. “You _are_ enough. You always have been.” He stretched out a hand towards her as she faded away and their fingertips touched for just a moment, a feeling of electricity passing between them.

“I’ll never stop fighting for you, sweetheart. I will come back for you.”

The light surged, blinding her for a moment and the next thing Belle knew, she was lying in her bed, the early morning sun streaming through the window. She squinted, holding an arm up to shield her eyes.

She sat up and paused on the edge of the bed, her mind trying to keep the dream from slipping away.

Something important had happened, but the memory was as slippery as quicksand and Belle found that the harder she tried to remember, the more elusive it became.

She sighed, running her hands through her hair, trying to smooth away her bedhead. She slipped off the bed onto the carpeted floor and padded off to the bathroom.

Though most of the dream had slipped away by now, she still knew the tell-tale signs of her body well enough to know that she would need a very cold shower if she was going to be able to concentrate on anything today.

Belle unhooked the opal necklace and laid it on the bathroom counter. She’d take it back to the pawnshop today, she decided. If she was this upset after waking up, then the pendant clearly wasn’t working.

\--------------------------------------

Nearly 400 miles away, Rumple awoke in his cheap hotel bed, his fingers clutching the thin blanket. His mind, trained for centuries to keep hold of precious things, clutched at the dream, refusing to let it slip away.

He quickly readied himself for the day, throwing on his beat-up suit, and finding a bus that would take him to the aquarium. It was time to find Ursula.

For the first time in weeks, he felt a small smile come to his face. He had a purpose again. And he would fight for it with every last breath within him.

His wife still wanted him. It was time to go back to Storybrooke.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've published actual smut! Part of my 200 Follower Celebration on tumblr. You can find me at http://prissyhalliwell.tumblr.com


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